The U.S. Congress keeps threatening to do something to support the cannabis industry’s access to banking, but so far, nothing has reached the finish line. However, the Safer Banking Bill, which sputtered at the end of 2024 after starting the year with great promise, could once again be resurrected.
Cornbread Hemp Co-Founder Jim Higdon recently took a trip to Washington D.C. to speak with politicians and rally support for the 2025 Farm Bill. Not only did he get some insights into the Farm Bill and rescheduling efforts, but also banking legislation.
Safest Banking
During his recent trip, Higdon said he learned that Senate staff is actively working on a new banking bill dubbed “Safest Banking.” This time around, the legislators aren’t trying to use an acronym, settling instead for a follow to “SAFE” and “SAFER.”
The latest version of the bill is expected to contain many of the same provisions, but one section is being rewritten, Higdon heard.
While many people in cannabis blame Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer for stalling the banking legislation, Higdon said it was Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell that thwarted Safer banking.
And once again, it will be up to McConnell as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee to bring it to the floor for a vote. Higdon said some had speculated that McConnell opposed the previous bills because of his position as the Republican Leader, an banner he longer holds. However, there’s still doubt about whether he has changed his tune regarding the banking issue.
“At least as I understand it in the present day,” Higdon said, “for safest banking to get out of the Senate, it will have to navigate Sen. McConnell as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which will be a challenge.”
Farm Bill
The 2024 Farm Bill, which was already two years overdue, received an extension until March 2025 – but even that deadline might get kicked down the road. Why? It’s not a priority for the Trump administration.
“What we know is that we’re not in the a hundred-day priority list, not for the Trump administration, not for the Congress,” Higdon said.
Attempts were made at the end of the Biden Administration to pass a new version, but a very restrictive amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) added at the last minute turned off many representatives and the bill floundered. Higdon doesn’t mince words when it comes to the amendment, saying it would put him out of business.
“It said that any product with any amount of THC would be criminalized, even though there’s a billion-dollar market. And consumers expect safe products in this regard. So just for clarity, the Mary Miller Amendment would have put Cornbread out of business and many of our fellow brands,” Higdon said.
This time around, he said he doesn’t think there’s an appetite for a similar amendment in this Congress. However, “What that means in terms of how the Farm Bill ends up taking shape relative to the definition of hemp remains to be seen,” he added.
Wyden bill
Industry insiders are also keeping an eye on Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has spoken about his plans for a Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act. He introduced a similar bill in 2024 that would have established hemp standards, but it went nowhere.
Despite talking about it, there isn’t a version of the bill for this Congress yet.
“I believe that Sen. Wyden is shopping for a Republican co-sponsor,” said Higdon. “Republican co-sponsorship would of course come with significant edits to the bill as drafted. So there’s an effort at play, but there’s not a bill yet introduced and it’s not been introduced because they’re trying to find some common ground with Republicans on it.”
Rescheduling
While rescheduling efforts seem mired in the cogs of government procedures, Higdon noted that he heard rumblings that alternative paths might be under consideration.
“There is some talk that the Trump Administration could reinvigorate the Schedule III process and have the attorney general sign off on the HHS recommendation without the administrative law judge process that the Biden Administration put it through – a process that might not be statutorily necessary,” Higdon said.
He added that it’s clear the DEA has no desire to change the scheduling of cannabis, because the department depends on it for its existence.
“To strip it from its core purpose would have to be done over their head and without their consent,” he said.
Beverages
Another area with high interest is the collision of cannabis beverages and alcohol. Cornbread plans to launch its own beverage line in a few months and is running up against an entrenched distribution model built for alcohol in the 1930s. He said they want to monopolize the industry, and hemp beverage companies are disrupting this. Whether the alcohol world will allow these beverages to take market share remains to be seen.
Higdon said he expects to ramp up his visits to Washington, D.C., to fight for his business and for the hemp industry.
“What I want to tell you is that the hemp industry is in this with the cannabis industry. We’re not working against the cannabis industry. We’re working in tandem toward the same goal. And our primary goal is to find a path forward on the regulated product front that will benefit both hemp and cannabis in the end,” Higdon added.